Spark plug drier



Oct. 27, 1942.

v. IAVARONE SPARK PLUG DRIER Filed May 31, 1941 lNVENTOR VINCE/VT [AVA RONE Z Z We i M ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 27, 1942 UNiTED STATES PA'IENT oi rice SPARK PLUG DRIER Vincent Iavarone, Bronx, N. Y.

Application May 31, 1941, Serial No. 395,991

4 Claims.

This invention relates to spark plug driers, and has for its principal object the provision of a simple, efficient device, separate from and removably applicable to installed spark plugs of an internal combustion engine, for the purpose of heating and drying such plugs in order to restore proper functioning thereof if the same has been interfered with by collection of moisture or Water on and about exposed portions of th plugs.

In the case of an automobile internal combustion engine, for example, it frequently happens that the automobile, if left standing in the rain, will fail to start upon operation of the engine starter because of collection of moisture or water on or about the exposed portions of the spark plugs. Under such conditions, it has heretofore been necessary to remove the plugs, clean and dry the removed plugs, and then reinstall them before being able to start the engine, all with great inconvenience and loss of time to the motorist.

Accordingly, another object of the present invention is to provide a spark plug drier, which constitutes an efficient and compact accessory for the motorist, operable simply by connecting it in the circuit of the automobile and, applying it to the engine spark plugs successively without removal thereof from the engine.

Upon installation of automobile engine spark plugs the same are connected with conductors leading from the ignition system. Heretofore, the automobile engine spark plugs have not only had to be removed in order to dry them, but the conductors have had to be disconnected from the plugs and then connected with the same after removal, drying and reinstallation thereof, thus causing additional inconvenience and loss of time to the motorist, as well as further trouble in the event the motorist is not sufficiently experienced to properly connect the conductors.

Accordingly, a further object of the invention is to provide a spark plug drier constructed so that it may be positioned over the exposed end of an installed automobile engine spark plug without having to disconnect the conductor from the plug.

Other objects of the present invention are to provide a spark plug drier which may be used upon spark plugs regardless of the size or make thereof; which utilizes an electric heater with respect to a spark plug in a manner such that the heater will not burn out quickly; which is constructed in a manner such that any motorist may use and employ it to advantage and without 55 shell inconvenience; and which can be manufactured and sold at low cost.

The invention consists of the construction, combination and arrangement of parts, as herein illustrated, described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, formingpart hereof, is illustrated one form of embodiment of the invention, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of an automobile internal combustion engine, showin'g an electrical circuit of the automobile and a spark plug drier embodying the present invention applied upon one of the installed spark plugs of the engine and connected in said circult;

Figure 2 is an enlarged detail perspective view,

partly broken away, of the spark plug drier shown in Figure l; and,

Figure 3 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of both the spark plug drier and a portion of the engine head shown in Figure 1.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 4 (Figure 1) indicates the cylinder block of an automobile internal combustion engine having secured thereto a head 5. Mounted on the head 5 as by brackets one of which is shown at 6 and secured to the head by a clamp screw 1, is a conduit 8. This conduit 8 encloses conductors 9 of the automobile ignition system, which extend outwardly from the conduit 8 through openings I0 therein, and are provided with contacts I l. The contacts l I are detachably connected with the upper end of the center electrode If! (Figure 3) of a spark plug indicated broadly at 13 (Figure '1) several of which are provided for the engine in accordance with the number of cylinders thereof, in the usual manner. The spark plug [3 may be of any desired type including a dielectric element id of porcelain or other material forming an insulator for the center electrode [2. The dielectric element I4 is secured in a metal shell l5 of the spark plug as by a hexagonal metal nut 16. threaded on said shell and seated upon an en-- larged annular flang ll thereof. The shell I5- is provided with threads [8 by means of which, the plug l3 may be threaded into a threaded opening I 9 formed in a well 20 of the engine head 5 opposite the combustion chamber of one of the cylinders of the engine. The head 5 is provided with the usual spaces 2| for circulation of water therethrough to the engine, and the flange ll bears against the usual washer 22 interposed be tween said flange and the bottom wall ofthewell 20 over the opening I!) therein. The spark plug l5 has secured on the bottom thereof, an

electrode 23 spaced from and co-operating with the lower end of the electrode l2 to form the usual spark provided by the ignition system to ignite the charge in the engine cylinder.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a spark plug drier, separate from and removably applicable to, installed spark plugs of an internal combustion engine, for the purpose of evaporating moisture or water collecting upon or around the exposed portions of the plugs and more particularly the dielectric elements thereof, The drier may be of any construction commensurate with the scope of the in-- vention but, as herein shown, the drier is preferably constructed and operated as follows.

The drier, indicated broadly at 24, comprises a hollow substantially conical body 25 made of any suitable material such, for example, as metal and forming a casing or cover for an electric heater hereinafter described. Th hollow body has an open bottom 26, and a top 21 provided with a manipulating knob or handle 23 secured to the top and formed of insulating material.

In accordance with the present invention, the

drier 24 is adapted for removable application to installed spark plugs in such manner that the conductors, such as 9, do not have to be disconnected from the plugs for application of the drier thereto. Further, and in accordance with the present invention, the drier 24 is adapted for removable application to installed spark plugs regardless of the size and make. For these purposes, the manipulating knob or handle 23 is secured to the top 27 of the hollow body 25 at one side, and the top has cut or otherwise formed around the bottom of the hollow body from :1

opposite edges of the slot 30 are a series of spring fingers 3| having spaces 32 therebetween. The dimensions of the fingers 3| are such that when the drier 34 is applied upon the spark plug IS, the corners of the hexagonal nut IE will be dis posed opposite the slots or spaces 32 between the fingers 3i which bear against the flat side faces of the nut throughout the widths thereof. The slots 29 and 33 enable removable application of the drier to spark plugs regardless of the size thereof, and without having to disconnect the conductors therefrom and, obviously, the fingers 3| afford means for detachably securing the drier to the spark plugs. This is tru whether the spark plugs are installed on engines having spark plug wells such as indicated at 20, or whether the spark plugs are installed on engines not provided with such wells. The drier will function equally well in either case.

The drier 24 is provided interiorly thereof with insulating means 33 which may be made of any suitable material but which, as herein shown, is comprised of a sheet of mica that has a slot 34 extending longitudinally thereof. The insulating means 33 is fitted in the hollow body 25 of the drier so that the slot 34 registers with the slot 3!] of the body 25, thereby enabling the drier to be applied upon the spark plug [3 without hav ing to disconnect its conductor 9.

Fitted upon the interior surface of th insulating means 33 is an electric heater herein shown as comprised by a resistance wire 35 having a lower end connected by a bolt 35 with the hollow metal body 25 at a point below the insulating means. The wire 35 has loops 3! formed therein at opposite edges of the slots 30 and 34 thereby enabling the wire to conform with the inner surface of the insulating means 33 and at the same time enabling the drier, as before described, to be applied upon the spark plug IS without having to disconnect its conductor 9 therefrom.

The opposite or upper end of the wire 35 is connected with a bolt 33 that extends through the insulating means 33 as well as through the hollow metal body 25. The bolt 33 has connected therewith exteriorly of the hollow metal body 25, a conductor wire 39 which is insulated from the body, as by an insulating disc 49. The conductor wire 39 may be of any suitable type covered with insulation, and said wire has connected with the free end thereof, as by a clamp screw 4| a metal clamp which is of standard make and indicated broadly at 42. The clamp 42 comprises a fixed serrated jaw 43 and a movable serrated jaw 44 connected together by the screw 4|, and the jaws have interposed therebetween a spring 45 normally acting to close the jaws but enabling them to be opened upon application of pressure thereupon.

In the use and operation of the drier 24, the clamp 42 is secured to the live side 46 of an electrical circuit such, for example, as provided on an automobile and including a source of current 41, comprised by a storage battery (Figure 1). The drier 24 is then fitted over the spark plug 13, as before described, so that the conductor 9 extends through the slots 38 and 34. The upper end of the resistance wire 35, which is insulated from the hollow metal body 25 by the insulating means 33, is thus connected with the live side 46 of the circuit by the wire 39 and the bolt 38. This bolt 38 extends through an opening in the hollow metal body 25 larger in diameter than the shank of the bolt, and the disc 43 and the insulating means 33 therefore insulate the bolt from the body.

Attachment of the clamp 42 to the live side 46 of the circuit may be made at any convenient point such as upon the coil, the horn or the battery, and when the drier 24 is applied upon the spark plug [3 as described, the spring fingers 3| are engaged with the nut [6, thus connecting the lower end of the wire 35 through the bolt 36, the metal body 25, the metal shell l5 of the spark plug, and the engine, with the ground side 48 of the circuit. Current is thus supplied to the resistance wire 35 which thereupon becomes heated and heats the exposed portion of the installed spark plug l3.

In most cases, moisture or water collecting upon the exposed dielectric element l4 of the spark plug causes the greatest trouble, and in accordance with the present invention, the drier 24 is co-extensive with, or even greater than, the length of the exposed dielectric element 14 of the plug so that the entire exposed dielectric element is heated by the drier in an efficient and rapid manner to overcome the trouble. After one spark plug has been heated and dried, in the manner described, the drier may be applied to the other spark plugs of the engine successively in order to heat and dry them one after another. Thereupon the conductor wire 39 is disconnected from the circuit, the drier is removed from the last spark plug operated upon, and the lead wire may be wrapped around the hollow metal body 25 of the drier which thus forms a spool for said wire. The drier may then be stowed away in the automobile for future use when the same is necessary or desirable.

In'cases where the exposed portion of an installed spark plug is of such height that the conductor contact I I is disposed an unusual distance above the engine cylinder head, the slot 29 in the top 21 of the drier enables it to fit'over the contact and thus insure ability to apply the drier upon the plug without having to disconnect the conductor therefrom. The insulated manipulating knob or handle 28 enables the drier to be conveniently handled and applied, and the spring fingers 3| afford readily enga eable and disengageable means for securing the drier upon and enabling removal of the same from the spark plug.

From the foregoing, it will appear that a spark plug drier embodying the present invention constitutes a highly efiicient, novel, compact and relatively inexpensive means for drying installed spark plugs of internal combustion engines, and While one form of embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it is to be expressly understood that the invention is not limited to such form of embodiment or otherwise than by the terms of the appended claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A spark plug drier comprising a hollow single thin walled body adapted to be removably positioned over an exposed portion of an installed spark plug, said body having a narrow slot in its side and top, a dielectric hand knob fixed in the top, an electric heater enclosed by said body, yieldable fingers on said body for detachably engaging a metal part of the spark plug, and means to connect said heater in an electric circuit.

2. A spark plug drier comprising a thin walled hollow metal body having a narrow slot in its side wall and top, said body adapted to be removably positioned over an exposed portion of an installed spark plug, insulating means disposed over an interior surface of said body, a resistance wire extending over said insulating means and having opposite ends one connected with said hollow metal body and the other secured to and insulated therefrom, a conductor connected with said last named end of the resistance wire, means on the conductor for connecting it with an electric circuit, and resilient prongs on the base of said body adapted to removably engage the spark plug.

3. A spark plug drier comprising a hollow metal body adapted to be removably positioned over an exposed portion of an installed spark plug of an internal combustion engine of an automobile, spring fingers formed on the hollow metal body for positioning it over and removing it from said exposed portion of the spark plug, insulating means disposed over an interior surface of the hollow metal body and secured thereto, a resistance wire extending over said insulating means and having opposite ends one connected with said hollow metal body and the other secured to and insulated therefrom, a conductor wire connected with said last named end of the wire, and means on the conductor wire for connecting it with a live side of a circuit of the automobile to heat said wire when said metal body is positioned as aforesaid and said spring fingers are engaged with a metal part of said spark plug connected with a ground side of said circuit.

4. A spark plug drier comprising a hollow single walled metal body, insulating means disposed over an interior surface of the said body, said body and said means having registering slots enabling said body to be removably positioned over an exposed portion of an installed spark plug without disconnection of the conductor for the spark plug, a conductor extending over the insulating means interiorly thereof between the edges of the slot therein and having opposite ends one connected with the hollow metal body and the other secured thereto and insulated therefrom, and means for connecting the last named end of the conductor with an electric circuit.

VINCENT IAVARONE. 

